Trans. by Kumarajiva. Commentary by Ouyi Zhixu. Four splendid full-page woodcuts. 54 folding leaves. Large 8vo (318 x 198 mm.), orig. yellow-brown patterned wrappers, new stitching. Naewon’am, “The Inner Courtyard Nunnery,” Samgaksan: 1853.

A rare reprint of the 1753 edition of The Smaller Sukhavativyuha Sutra, one of the three most important Mahayana sutras of the Pure Land tradition, printed in 1853 (Xianfeng 3), at Naewon’am 內院庵, “The Inner Courtyard Nunnery” at Samgaksan 三角山, a peak of Pukhansan mountain north of Seoul.

The printing of our edition was financed by donations from nuns and lay believers. The names of donors... More

Dont la Vente commencera le 4 Mars 1756. vi, 63 pp. 8vo, cont. vellum over boards, single gilt fillet round sides, flat spine gilt, gilt wheat sheaves in five of the compartments, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Paris: G. Martin & P.G. Simon, 1756.

[bound with]:

(SIREJACOB, J.A.J.). Catalogue d’une très-belle Collection d’Estampes, de Rubens, Van Dyck, Jordaens, Teniers, Callot & autres fameux Maîtres Italiens, François & Flamands. Assemblées depuis longues Années, & Délaissées par Monsieur J.A.J. Sirejacob, Ecuyer. Qui se Vendront…a Bruxelles, Lundi le 27. Août 1764. & jours suivans… 1 p.l., 76 pp. 8vo. Brussels: H.V. Lemincks, [1764]... More

Fine medallion woodcut port. of the author on verso of title, numerous woodcut illus. in the text, one folding woodcut plate (pp. 769-70) with the woodcut volvelle unassembled on a separate slip bound-in, & one folding printed table (pp. 790-91). 16 p.l. (the last a blank), 1194 (i.e. 1204), [64] pp. Thick 8vo, cont. blind-stamped panelled pigskin over wooden boards (some light dampstaining) by Hans Bopp of Nuremberg, orig. clasps & catches. Basel: [H. Petri], 1557.

Second edition (the first edition was published earlier in the same year) of Cardano’s second great encyclopedia of natural science; it is a continuation... More

Japan: mid-Edo.

These beautifully drawn paintings are in the karako (Chinese children) tradition of painting which was prevalent in Japan, starting in the early Edo period. Karako is a term for a certain kind of pictorial art with the constant theme of children dressed in Chinese clothing, with their hair in Chinese style with partially shaved heads.

These scrolls are painted with the highest skill and nuance. The details are beautifully executed in rich colors, many are heightened in gold, and have magnificent nuances of shading and detail. We have been unable to identify the artist but he must have... More

Three large folded sheets & two lengthy letters with their original manuscript envelopes. Japan: ca. 1822-31.

An exceptional collection of documents on two consequential early Western visits to Japan in the 1820s: the first landing of the Saracen at Uraga and the Takarajima incident. During this period, accounts of these incursions were kept top-secret as matters of Japanese national security. Pre-Commodore Perry materials, such as ours, are extremely scarce. This collection also contains well-rendered drawings of foreigners and their ships. The letters sent by government officials speak to the widespread anxiety throughout the country in the face of much more... More

Engraved vignette on title & five folding engraved plates. Title in red & black. 1 p.l., 322 pp., 1 leaf of instructions to binder. Large 4to, cont. mottled calf (foot of upper joint carefully repaired), spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Lausanne & Geneva: M.M. Bousquet, 1744.

First edition of the work which created the calculus of variations. This book, which displayed “an amount of mathematical genius seldom rivalled, contained his researches on the calculus of variation to the invention of which Euler was led by the study of the researches of Johann and Jakob Bernoulli…The study... More

18 p.l., 123 pp. 8vo, cont. marbled wrappers (minor browning). Amsterdam: 1731.

First edition of a very uncommon book. Fourmont (1683-1745), “was the first scholar in France to deal with Chinese matters. He started his career in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres as a Hebraist and had written several small books on Hebrew matters, but he left this discipline and turned to Chinese in 1711. At that time he met a young French-speaking Chinese man by the name of Arcadio Huang [(1679-1716),] in the Bibliothèque Nationale; Huang was the only Chinese speaking-person in France. Fourmont seized the opportunity to... More

Woodcut Medicean arms on title. 36 pp. Small 4to, attractive antique calf (final five leaves a little stained & with some minor marginal paper repairs), spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine. Florence: C. Giunti, 1605.

First edition of this rare and important book on the new star of October 1604; it plays a significant role in the first great controversy of Galileo’s scientific career in which he turned his back on the whole philosophical approach to science and sought reliable information and secure knowledge about the physical world through observations and calculations. The controversy which arose from the... More

Ten columns per page, 20 characters per column. The first leaf in Japanese, the remainder in Chinese. 1 p.l., 52 folding leaves. 8vo (275 x 173 mm.), orig. wrappers (wrappers quite rubbed & and somewhat worn), old stitching. From the colophon: “Kyoto: Tahara Ninzaemon, 1641.”

A very rare early edition — not in WorldCat or NIJL — of one of the “two priceless records of the earlier stages of the Chinese language.”–Edwin G. Pulleyblank, “Qieyun and Yunjing: The Essential Foundation for Chinese Historical Linguistics“ in Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 118, No. 2 (April-June 1998), p. 213. The... More

Fine woodcut printer’s device on title, woodcut port. on verso of the dedicatee, Henri III, & several woodcut illus. in the text. 22 p.l., 558, [5] pp. Folio, fine 18th-cent. marbled calf (joints & ends of spine very carefully repaired), arms in gilt on both covers of the great bibliophile. the duc d’Aumont, triple gilt fillet round sides, spine richly gilt, red morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: A. l’Angelier, 1584.

First edition, a fine copy from the library of the great bibliophile, the duc d’Aumont (1709-82), one of the outstanding book and art collectors of his age, with... More

[1] oblong leaf of explanatory text & 4 color woodcut plates (222 x 457 mm.), each signed & numbered by the artist, loose as issued, housed in orig. handmade paper wrapper, orig. publisher’s portfolio. Tokyo: Galerie Watari, 1980.

An extremely rare suite of four woodblock prints, all numbered and signed by Sol LeWitt (1928-2007). These prints were finely executed on Echizen-Kizuki-Hosho paper by the Adachi Institute in an edition of 40 copies (+ 10 A.P.). The same year, Shizuko Watari’s Galerie Watari also published a scarce LeWitt artist’s book with a slightly shortened title, All Four Part Combinations of Six... More

Woodcut illus. of artists’ marks on many leaves. 72 pp. 12mo, early 18th-cent. morocco (about 1740), triple gilt fillet round sides, flat spine gilt, contrasting morocco lettering piece on spine, a.e.g. Paris: J. Langlois, 1672.

The catalogue of the second print collection formed by Marolles (1600-81), abbot of Villeloin and man of letters. His first collection amounted to 123,400 separate prints by more than 6000 print makers, mounted in 400 large volumes and 141 smaller ones. It was acquired in the name of the King by Colbert in 1667. This was the largest and finest collection ever formed up to... More